Content of the Christ Hymn

Philippians 2:6-11 Pt. 2

Photo by Zack Gross

1. Formal Analysis

In Philippians 2, “The apostle returns…to the topic of the unity of the Philippians, which he urges in a most tender and persuasive manner (1, 2), joining with the plea for unity an appeal also for humility (3) and unselfishness (4), and enforcing his whole admonition by a noble and eloquent description of the example of Jesus Christ (5-11).” Philippians 2:6-11 is situated as the central lynchpin within Paul’s exhortation to the Philippians to participate in the gospel story. For Paul, “The content of the gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ is Lord. Pulsating with praise for the humility and the exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Christ hymn (2:6–11) is the heart of the letter.”  The basis for his petition to the Philippians is the ultimate example of Jesus. “This hymn expresses in lofty, lyrical language the narrative of Christ from his preincarnate glory to the universal praise of him as Lord to the glory of God the Father. The pathway of this divine person is marked by his humble obedience as a human slave all the way to death on a cross…." The immediate context of this passage is the five verses of exhortation to the church wherein, “The church in Philippi is called by the hymn to express their worship of Jesus Christ as Lord in their humble service to one another (2:1–5)." Dr. Sydney Park states that “the main hermeneutical issue of Philippians 2:6-11 debates the rationale behind these verses." While some would question whether the reason for this passage is simply as a reminder of the salvation story or as the basis of an ethical exhortation, the evidence seems to be with Park who says, “The mutually exclusive proposition in this debate is spurious as soteriology and/or Christology necessarily have ethical implications." This is related to another controversy over the genre of Philippians 2:6-11. 

According to Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16, early Christians engaged in singing “hymns and spiritual songs” beyond the corpus of the Psalms that served as the Jewish hymn book and was adopted by early Christians. “During the twentieth century a number of detailed studies seemed to confirm”, “that Philippians 2:6-11 was…a hymn about the humiliation and exaltation of Christ…." However, the alternative position is that these words were “created by Paul himself precisely to drive home the point that the Philippians should strive for unity by imitating the unselfishness of Christ." Thus, this passage has “more recently classified under a number of alternative genre headings: exalted prose, encomion, epainos, early Christian confession, didactic poem, and prose hymn.” Regardless of which position is correct:

Still, it is undeniable that these texts are uniquely stylized as inducive for worship. Whether or not they functioned liturgically in the early church, surely they function as a textual apex in their respective epistolary context, especially Philippians 2:6-11, precisely because they exalt God’s salvific work through Christ.

Because worship is a whole person response to God the categorization of this passage as a call to worship, regardless of exact genre, solidifies the position that verses 6-11 are intentionally preceded by verses 1-5. Of verse 5, Walter Hansen says, “In this verse Paul constructs a bridge between his exhortation to be mindful of the interests of others (2:1–4) and the hymn of Christ (2:6–11)." As readers move across his bridge, their attention turns from the attitude of mind which they express in their relationships with one another to the attitude of mind Christ Jesus had, expressed in his humiliation on the cross 

2. Detailed Analysis

Much could be said and has been said about this passage accordingly this section will attempt to focus on key terms and phrases and summarize the consensus of their meaning. Verse 6 begins, “who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped”.  This verse has long been understood to be pointing to the preexistence of Christ. Augustine of Hippo said of this verse, “God who is eternally wise has with him his eternal Wisdom [the Son]. He is not in any way unequal to the Father. He is not in any respect inferior. For the apostle too says “who, when he was in the form of God, thought it no robbery to be equal with God.” Hansen adresses the diversity of arguments based on the word “existing” but instead roots his argument in the narrative order of the sentence when he says that it necessarily “points to the preexistence of the one existing in the form of God before he emptied himself, took the form of a slave, and became in the likeness of humans." Mackie sees here a connection to our first parents who exploited or grasped at the opportunity to be like God and the contrast to that of the New Adam who models a better way. His choice to not exploit what was absolutely within his rights, implies Paul, should give the Christian serious pause in their own opportunities to exploit. 

It is of this preexistent and equal with the Father, Son that verse 7 says, “but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature”. Of this verse, Aquinas wrote:

He says, therefore, He emptied himself. But since He was filled with the divinity, did He empty Himself of that? No, because He remained what He was; and what He was not, He assumed. But this must be understood in regard to the assumption of what He had not, and not according to the assumption of what He had. For just as He descended from heaven, not that He ceased to exist in heaven, but because He began to exist in a new way on earth, so He also emptied Himself, not by putting off His divine nature, but by assuming a human nature.

In a more contemporary commentary, Melick writes, “The verb “emptied” (NASB) does not require a knowledge of what was emptied (Rom 4:14; 1 Cor 1:17; 9:15). Often it is translated simply “to render void, of no effect.” This passage affirms simply that Christ left his position, rank, and privilege. They were “of no effect.” This has been described as subtraction by addition. Christ voided his divine privileges by taking on humanity. Paul has called the Philippians to have this same mind (attitude or way of thinking) in their own lives to voluntarily void their own privileges and rights in their following after Christ Jesus.  

The passage continues in verse 8 saying, “He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross!” Paul focuses in on the humiliation of Jesus as a description both of what he has already described and of what he is about to describe. “First, when he was found in fashion like a man, he chose humility…Second, he became obedient to death…The impact of crucifixion on the Philippians would be great. No Roman could be subjected to such a death, and the Jews took it as a sign that the victim was cursed (Gal 3:13)...That, in itself, demonstrates the extent to which Jesus went.” His humility knew no bounds. Paul has been and will continue to call the church at Philippi to emulate Jesus’ humility even as they recognize the incomparable bounds he went to.   

Verse 9 introduces the great reversal not only of this passage but of God’s economy (Luke 14:11; 18:14), “As a result God exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name,”. Lest anyone misunderstand these verses to communicate the inferiority of the Son, Lightfoot writes, “The words exalted and gave are used in reference to the subordinate position voluntarily assumed by the Son of God.” This exaltation seems to mirror Old Testament allusions including Daniel 7 when the one like a son of man was elevated through the clouds to reign with the Ancient of Days. Additionally, “Most agree the ‘name that is above every name’ is the title ‘Lord.’ Further, most agree that the title refers to Jesus’ character, as well as to his function.” This consensus around the title Lord also connects this to the Old Testament as the divine name was translated into the Septuagint and then quoted in the New Testament with the greek word for Lord. Paul then relays the exaltation of Jesus as the hope for those who join in following him.  

Finally, verses 10-11 conclude, “so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow – in heaven and on earth and under the earth – and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” Barclay notes, “In it we read that the aim of God, is a day when every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. These four words were the first creed that the Christian Church ever had.” MacKnight rightly notes that, “The apostle here quotes or alludes to Isa. xlv.23” where Isaiah says, “...For I am God, and I have no peer. I solemnly make this oath – what I say is true and reliable: ‘Surely every knee will bow to me, every tongue will solemnly affirm;” Pidge points out that “The honor paid to Christ reflects glory upon the Father whose son he is. The worship of the Son cannot be separated from the worship of the Father.” This then is the universal invitation that will not be ignored. Paul is calling the Philippians to voluntarily cooperate in the story of Jesus but he makes clear that eventually, all will surrender willingly or unwillingly.

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